Table 1.
Plaque morphometry and macrophage burden in animals receiving early administration of SPION-DEXA and control SPIONs
| Untreated control | Early treatment control SPION | Early treatment SPION-DEXA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plaque area (mm2) | 2.37 (2.39±0.6) | 1.54 (1.63±0.3) | 1.76 (1.63±0.1) |
| Normalized plaque area (%) | 67.8 (61.7±6.2) | 66.2 (63.3±5.2) | 65.5 (66.6±3.3) |
| Maximum plaque thickness (µm) | 515.6 (493.7±121.6) | 422.4 (445.6±78.2) | 527.8 (497.7±57.3) |
| Media thickness (µm) | 119.1 (144.9±36.9) | 118.4 (133.5±23.9) | 110.8 (112.3±7.8) |
| IMT | 5.07 (4.3±1.2) | 2.78 (3.65±0.8) | 4.42 (4.40±0.3) |
| Minimum FC thickness (µm) | 29.3 (34.9±12.4) | 38.0 (42.4±6.8) | 32.7 (36.3±4.5) |
| Macrophage area (%) | 29.5 (25.7±4.8) | 29.8 (30.2±4.4) | 42.3 (44.7±4.5)*,# |
Notes: Data are expressed as median (mean ± SEM).
*
P=0.025 vs nanoparticle-untreated control;
#
P=0.0285 vs control SPION-receiving group, one-tailed t-test.
Abbreviations: FC, fibrous cap; IMT, intima–media thickness; SEM, standard error of the mean; SPIONs, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles; SPION-DEXA, SPIONs conjugated with dexamethasone phosphate.